Tense summit

A Russian trade embargo on imports of vegetables from the European Union has overshadowed the opening of a two-day summit bringing together key officials from Russia and the EU, which is one of Russia's largest trading partners.

The Kremlin banned EU vegetables following a deadly outbreak of a new strain of the E. coli bacterium believed to have originated from a northern German farm. The strain has so far killed some 30 people and hospitalized more than 2,000, most of them in Germany.

European officials reacted angrily to the Russian ban, saying the measure was "disproportionate."

European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde said in Brussels as the summit got underway in the west Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod that "we expect our Russian partners to find a solution as quickly as possible."

But Russia said the embargo was justified until scientists determined what exactly was causing the spread of the virulent bacterium.

"We need to get from our European colleagues accurate answers as quickly as possible to our questions raised on the definition of this strain, its nature and what measures are being taken to limit its spread," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich, according to Russian news agency Interfax. "Then all the issues can be resolved."

As the summit started, it was thought that the embargo issue would not be solved at the gathering, but could take a few days to iron out.

Also on the table

Among the other topics to be discussed at the summit are proposals for visa-free travel to Europe for Russian citizens and Russia's bid to become a member of the World Trade Organization.

The Kremlin was also expected to make an aggressive push for greater access to EU energy markets. Russia has argued that its energy companies faced barriers in buying European distribution rights, and that this could endanger investment in the South Stream gas pipeline project across the Black Sea and into Europe.

The government under President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has frowned upon EU energy market reforms intended to boost competition but which, it maintains, put Russian energy providers such as Gazprom at a disadvantage.

Russia is the EU's third-largest trading partner and its biggest energy supplier, while the EU is by far Russia's largest export market.

Author: Darren Mara (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton